{Blog Tour} GREENE'S CALLING by A.D. Starrling -- with review and giveaway!

{Blog Tour} The Dragon's Egg by HB Bolton -- with reviews, video trailer, and giveaway!

{Blog Tour} ATLAS by Becca C Smith -- with review, excerpt, and giveaway!

{Release Day Launch} East of Ecstasy by Laura Kaye with giveaway and excerpt

We are so excited it's release day for Laura Kaye's EAST OF ECSTASY! EAST OF ECSTASY is the final book in her Hearts of the Anemoi Series. See below for a note from Laura and an excerpt!!

East of Ecstasy Excerpt:

By Laura Kaye

You guys! I can’t believe release day for East of Ecstasy is finally here! This is the final book in

my Hearts of the Anemoi series, which includes: North of Need, West of Want, and South of 

Surrender. The Anemoi were wind gods the Greek associated with controlling the wind, weather,

and seasons. In East of Ecstasy, hero Devlin Eston is the heir to the East Wind which has long

been associated with unluckiness, misfortune, and, thanks to Devlin’s father, even evil. Devlin himself has been the victim of father’s evil, and thereby finds himself an outcast among his own divine family. In this scene, heroine Annalise Fallston—who gets visions that she’s forced to paint in order to quiet them in her mind—sees Devlin for the first time. Here’s what she says:

Forcing the chaos in her mind away, Anna dipped her brush into the gray and stepped to the canvas.

Motion captured her attention from the corner of her eye.

The Dark Man, the subject of her recent paintings, stood in the doorway and leaned against the jamb.

Anna jumped and her pulse raced, but this time, anger flooded in instead of fear. “I will deal with you on my own damn terms,” she said, taking a perverse amount of pleasure from putting a figment of her imagination in its place. Because that’s all he was.

He didn’t move or speak. Not that he could, since, you know. Figment.Of.Imagination.

Anna rolled her eyes, done with being scared and so pissed to have to do this again that she was nearly out of her mind. “I’m doing your damn painting already. So just leave me alone.” She cut her gaze back to the expanse of white, but the desire to see if his image would still be there if she looked again drove her to distraction.

Finally, she gave in and…he was still there.

Completely still.Blatantly scowling.Totally unfathomable.

Was this a vision? Another image she’d have to paint?

Her heart tripped into a sprint, and she couldn’t look away from him. Like the compulsion that forced her to paint these images, Anna couldn’t help but return his stare and memorize his masculine features. The sharp angles of his face, the harsh set of his mouth, the dark shadows around his even darker eyes.Black eyes. Blades of black hair hung low over his forehead and just touched the hooded shirt he wore under his short, scuffed leather jacket. He’d crossed his arms over his chest, and the position caused his biceps to bunch up under the worn leather. In fact, everything about him appeared worn—the coat, the threadbare jeans, the scuffed boots. None of it struck her as the kind of shabby chic you could buy in some upscale store for a small fortune, either. The whole effect was rough.

Dangerous. Deprived.

Deprived? What a strange way of describing him. But as Anna’s gaze swept over him

again, the thought stuck. For his height, he seemed thin, with his lean hips, clad in old black jeans, a trim waist, and pronounced cheekbones. Her fingers twitched around the nearly forgotten paintbrush. What would it feel like to cup that harsh face in her hand?

Anna gasped and tore her gaze away. She had to blink to pull herself out of the haze of thoughts.

Frustration surged through her and tensed the muscles of her shoulders and neck. She didn’t want to be working on another of these paintings as it was, so the last thing she needed was to lose a bunch of time daydreaming. Or would it be daynightmaring?

As she stared at the blank canvas, the image of the shackled man behind the prison bars filled her

mind’s eye.

Definitely the latter.

Curiosity pulled her eyes to the left again. The doorway was empty.

So, did you have a favorite line from the excerpt? Thanks for reading!

Laura

About EAST OF ECSTASY:


The final chapter in the award-winning and bestselling Hearts of the Anemoi series…

She’s the only one who can give him the strength to save them all…

Annalise Fallston made peace with postponing her big-city dreams to care for her ill father, but lately she's been filled with a restlessness not even her beloved painting dispels. Worse, the colors don't speak to her as they always have, and all her efforts produce dark, foreboding images of a dangerous man and a terrifying future.

Devlin Eston, black-souled son of the evil Anemoi Eurus, is the only one who can thwart his father's plan to overthrow the Supreme God of Wind and Storms. But first, Dev must master the unstable powers he's been given. Distrusted and shunned by his own divine family, he never expected to find kindness and passion in the arms of a mortal.

But Devlin's love puts Annalise in the path of a catastrophic storm, and in the final Armageddon
showdown between the Anemoi and Eurus, sacrifices will be made, hearts broken, and lives changed forever...or lost.

Buy at Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

Catch up on the whole series with the Hearts of the Anemoi box set featuring the

first three books: North of Need, West of Want, South of Surrender!

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About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

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{ARC Review} This Crumbling Pageant (The Fury Triad #1) by Patricia Burroughs

This Crumbling Pageant (The Fury Triad #1) by Patricia Burroughs

Persephone Fury is the Dark daughter, the one they hide.

England, 1811. Few are aware of a hidden magical England, a people not ruled by poor mad George, but the dying King Pellinore of the House of Pendragon.

The Furys are known for their music, their magic, and their historic role as kingmakers. When Fury ambitions demand a political marriage, Persephone is drugged and presented to Society--
Only to be abducted from the man she loves by the man she loathes.

But devious and ruthless, Persephone must defy ancient prophecy, embrace her Dark magic, and seize her own fate.

Be swept away into the first book of a dark fantasy series combining swashbuckling adventure, heart-pounding romance, and plot-twisting suspense.

Fury Triad Website | Goodreads

About the Author:

Award-winning screenwriter and best selling novelist Patricia Burroughs loves dogs, books, movies, and football. A lifelong Anglophile, she treasures her frequent travels in the British Isles researching The Fury Triad, the epic fantasy that has taken over her life and heart. She and her high school sweetheart husband are living happily ever after in their hometown of Dallas, Texas.



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 I love fantasy books like this where the story is complicated, the descriptions rich, and the characters so well-described you can see them in your mind's eye, with sinister looks, ethereal beauty, or what have you.

You can read the description, so I will do my best not to rehash it, but as you can see, there are two Englands. There is the mundane/original England in the world as we know it with a mad King George and then there is the Magi England. The Fury family is part of Magi England and this is where the bulk of the story takes place. To cross from one England into another, one must travel through the fog, something young Persephone Fury discovers when she is abducted by the house tutor, Vespasian. After escaping, she returns a changed woman with a secret. Falling in love with the man who helped her home, she makes her debutante ball looking surreal and gorgeous, helped by her brother Cosmos. There is a strange and weird tension between the Fury family members and I did a lot of puzzling over it in the beginning. I think what I loved most was the description of the Furys' powers. Oh, to have Persephone's gifts. I think every musically inclined person would find her gift amazing and desirable.

This is fantasy at its finest, with love and darkness, plight and opportunity, and complicated twists and turns that hinge on Persephone's decision making. Is it fate or is it destiny or is it choice? This is only book one so we don't know where it will lead us, but the words of her goddess ring ominous for Persephone. She can choose duty & honor or love, but not both. One will have to be enough, so which shall it be? I, for one, am hooked and can only urge Patricia Burroughs to write faster in hopes that I may read on!

I received a print ARC to read and review. My opinions are my own. I do urge you to get this on May 6, 2014 when it releases if you love a well built world with multi-faceted characters and a not so happily ever after...at least, not yet as far as I can see. 

Giveaway:

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{ARC Review} Layla's Gale by Nicole Pouchet

Layla's Gale
by Nicole Pouchet
Publisher:
Published: April 1, 2014
Length: 245 pages
Editions:

Life is finally on track for fledgling stage actress Layla Cohen until she realizes her gorgeous new director, Sebastian, is the star of the erotic dreams which she’s been having for months. She could handle the uncomfortable work situation if not for the further evidence she’s losing her mind: The wind suddenly whooshes at her command; memories of a past life emerge; and she’s sure someone is trying to kill her.

Meanwhile, director Sebastian Tawanti is steering his small D.C. theater company into the big-time with his Incan mythology-based play. The culmination of his life’s work, he won’t let anything stand in the way of his play's success--not his mother's objections, not the inappropriate heat he feels for Layla, and not even the mysterious, empathic symptoms he's experienced since meeting her.

LAYLA’S GALE is Book 1 of the four-book, paranormal romance / urban fantasy ELEMENTAL MYTHS romance series. Similar in subject matter, it is a lighter, more carefree read than Deborah Harness’ All Souls Trilogy. This paranormal romance series is sure to entice readers of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series and Marjorie M. Liu's Dirk and Steele series. ELEMENTAL MYTHS follows four couples as they bond together in steamy romance, supernatural powers, and predestined battle to save modern mankind from the mysterious demise of the vanished Incan Empire.

As Layla and Sebastian struggle with new love and burgeoning power, a sinister force unravels to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Will they learn the truth behind the Incan script in time to save their lives, the love they’re destined to share, and the future of humanity.

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From Nicole Pouchet comes a four book series paranormal romance that focuses on a culture rarely touched upon for PNRs: Incan mythology!

I liked how the book started off with Layla's hot dream, a glimpse of her life with her roommate, and then the impact she gets when she is at her callback audition and realizes that the director is the man from her dreams. I think I even gleefully rubbed my hands together saying, "Oh this is gonna be GOOD" when we learn that Sebastian is an empath.

I thought the author did a wonderful job with building the world, the problem, etc. with Sebastian's history and conversations with his mother to the dream sequences, etc. I enjoyed the tension and give-and-take between Sebastian and Layla for the first half of the book, even though I think it may have gone on a little bit too long and then the suddenly mushymushies seemed a bit shocking, no matter what their past lives!

I liked the powers and descriptions and everyone's role. I expected to be annoyed when I first read that they don't "come into their powers fully until they are mated" as I don't see why a man has to "complete" the woman. And without the women able to access their powers, it seems to leave the world vulnerable. But then, I was swept up in the romance of it and didn't mind so much.

You can start by reading the prequel now, Ceiba's Grace, if you would like to get a jump on the story. Layla's Gale comes out April 1. Thank you to the publisher for the offer and letting me read this early!

Ceiba's Grace can be purchased on amazon at: amzn.to/1qhS8H8 and you can add it to your TBR at Goodreadshttp://

Book Review: Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

Stormdancer, The Lotus War Book #1
by Jay Kristoff
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Published: September 2012
Length: 313 pages
Edtions: print and ebook
Source: Purchased

A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima’s imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A HIDDEN GIFT
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire


A_TiffyFit's Review: I had been meaning to pick this book up and read it for several months now. When I received an ARC in the mail of KINSLAYER, Book 2 in The Lotus Wars series, I started to try and carve out time for Stormdancer. *kicks myself in my ass* I seriously needed to read this earlier. Months and months earlier. MONTHS AND MONTHS EARLIER. As I write this, it's currently 6:34AM. My eyes are bleary. My body is protesting. But my mind and my heart are wide awake. And all because of this book. I started reading a few hours ago intending to put it down and get some sleep. Yeah, okay. 

You could sum up this book in one word before you start to geek out: WOW! And then you have to geek and rave. From the very first few pages, you're immediately thrown into this...steampunk feudal Japan. It is a horrifying dystopia where the air and land are ruined, driven by the Lotus Guild to make their machines, killing the land and its people. The poor cover their mouths with cloth and squint their way through the harsh sun; the rich have mechanical breathers and fancy goggles to ensure they don't get black lung. The skies are burnt red. There is nothing alive or organic in Kigen. 

I love when authors don't explain every little thing you may not be versed in and just immerse you into their world. That's what a glossary is for. Instead, jump into this world, experience it with my character, and let me hold you under my spell for a few hours. Oh, boy did I! 

The world may as well be in front of me, I think I may have coughed a couple times as we were given the description of the black choking rain, the poor mother obviously dying and her little girl standing next to her. The characters are so real they could spring from my kindle and I wouldn't be surprised. Their emotional interactions are palpable. My eyes teared up at Yukiko's memories, and then again when she's fighting with her father, Masaru.  So, you have this marvelous setting and these incredible characters that leap from the page, and so much action and intrigue! 

Yukiko is a wonderful heroine. She is strong, resourceful, sympathetic, smart-mouthed, feminine, and petulant. Yes, petulant at times as you would expect a 16 year old to be. But her petulance is justified as she doesn't have all the information. She isn't whiny and doesn't do that "why me!!!!????" crap. She's a thinker, a reasoner, she listens, she processes, she acts. 

The fight and action sequences are intense, detailed, and kept me glued to my kindle. There were only two things that made my face scrunch up briefly in a question. The mad shogun/emperor is fighting a war against the gaijin or foreigners, right? So, the samurai with the jade green eyes? I'm half-asian. That side of the family doesn't come with green eyes (yeah okay I'm semi quoting the movie Big Trouble in Little China. Shush!). So is he part-gaijin? Or is he Impure? Diachi and Kaori also have grey eyes. Same question. But really, WHO CARES? This was an amazing, five star read for me. I loved the action, the characters, the setting, the plot, the mythology, the story telling, the steampunk dystopian fantasy flavor, all of it. Go. Run. Get it. 

P.S. Jay Kristoff says on his website that he doesn't believe in happy endings. Life & death are part of this crazy thing we call life. I was well-satisfied with that ending. WELL SATISFIED. And while it may not qualify as a happy ending, it was an amazing one. I don't know if I want to sleep or launch into Kinslayer right now. 

Book Tour & Review with Giveaway: RUNES by Ednah Walters

Runes by Ednah Walters
Publication date: May 20th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Length: 245 pages

Edition: Ebook and Print

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.

Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.

Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only is she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life.

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A_TiffyFit's Review -

Where do I begin? Okay, I have to begin with the ending. My reaction to the ending was an astounding: WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!! I scanned back a few lines and read it again.

That is one HELL of an ending, Ednah Walters! Cliffhanger indeed, please give me book two NOW!

Okay...now to the review: Raine is a high school swim champ whose father has gone missing in an airplane crash. Her mother swears he is still alive, but Raine is starting to doubt as weeks turn into months. Luckily Raine has her two BFFs, Eirik and Cora to keep her company and mind occupied. Raine has feelings for Eirik and is hoping that their relationship will finally progress into MORE. Enter the new neighbor: hot with bad boy vibes (well just because of the Harley), despite Raine's insistence she wants Eirik she can't help but to keep looking at Torin St. James....

And there are weird things afoot in her house: she is constantly hearing her mother talk to herself while looking in the mirror, her mom mutters something near her birthday about not being able to tell her alone, Torin makes strange allusions to something, even referring to her and her friends as Mortals. And Raine sees Andris covered in what can only be described as strange tattoos that get stronger and then fade. WHAT IS GOING ON?

Cora and Raine's friendship was incredibly realistic - their banter, the way they act towards one another, etc. I liked Cora a lot - sweet, spunky, steadfast friend. I liked Eirik as well, but despite his good boy persona and sweet attendance on Raine, it seemed like passion just wasn't there. They are much too buddy buddy and with Torin tossed in the mix, I was rooting for Raine to go for Torin. "Break it off cleanly and go to Torin!" Many of the interactions between Raine and Torin were attraction charged, intense, fluttery, and then left her as torn as I would've been.

I spent much of the book trying to guess the mythology, what they were, etc., and I'm pretty sure Raine felt the same way I did:

I loved this book. It kept me gripped and wanting to read more. It kept me in Reader Zone and then I started to panic as I'm watching the percentage on my kindle dwindle, the minutes counting down to how much time until I reach the end of the book, and then the ending...THE ENDING! GAH! I hope it comes out soon. 

Highly recommended!

About the Author:

EDNAH WALTERS grew up reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and dreaming of one day writing her own stories. She is a stay-at-home mother of five humans and two American short-hair cats (one of which has ADHD) and a husband. When she is not writing, she’s at the gym doing Zumba or doing things with her family, reading, traveling or online chatting with fans.

Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was released by Pill Hill Press in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED, the third installment, will be released April 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series, FORGOTTEN.

Ednah also writes New Adult paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series. She is presently working on book 2, IMMORTALS.

Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published four more books in this series. She's presently working on book six. You can visit her online at www.ednahwalters.com or www.ebwalters.com.

Ednah Walters Website
Goodreads Author Page
Facebook
@EdnahWalters

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